ATP SHANGHAI : Federer bows out to Coric

Roger Federer slumped to a surprise defeat against Borna Coric in the semi finals of the Shanghai Masters.

The Swiss relinquished his position as world No.2 earlier on Saturday following Novak Djokovic’s masterclass against Alexander Zverev, and a miserable day was compounded by a 6-4 6-4 straight sets loss against the 21-year-old Croatian.

Coric broke in the opening game of the match to get off to an ideal start and rarely looked in any danger on his own serve, until he was forced to close out the match having broken Federer again early in the second set.

Federer was unable to find an answer, however, as Coric served out the match in impressive style to reach his first Masters Series final. ‘It’s the best I’ve ever seen him play, there were no lapses in concentration, he struck the ball beautifully and there wasn’t much Federer could do,’ said former British No.1 Greg Rusedski afterward.

‘Federer looked a little bit slow but you have to give a lot of credit to what Coric did tactically. There were no weaknesses present.’